Doggy Troubles
by victoriarogue
Summary: Toga learns after adopting a new puppy that having a dog is a lot more responsibility than caring for himself. He has to teach this new puppy the ropes, find a job on the farm, and help his boss run the farm and the ranch. On top of that, the new puppy is a tad more independent than he initially thought.
1. Chapter 1

She picked at the lock for hours throughout the night. Her father, mother, brothers and sisters were all gone. Everyone was able to run from the scientist's house except for her. Once her beautiful mother, sable and true, left the house, everyone else had begun to follow. She was the prized possession, however. Her father did save the rest of the family, but he was taken away and never seen again after he himself ran around trying to search for her. She was alone and afraid now. She didn't know what to expect or who to trust anymore. It has been four long months since the scientist kept her locked away in an unkempt cage. Tonight was the first night she had ever picked a lock, but she was closer and closer to getting it to move. She almost had it once, but the scientist howled something fierce and demonic then beat her with an orange cudgel. Now, she was determined to be set free from the cage and the beatings. She had to escape!

Coughing startled her and made her whine sharply then silence herself. It was the scientist. His heavy footsteps pounded against the floor. Her ears drew back as she heard more coughing, and then the scientist entered a room - her room. He was ghastly pale, but his scheming eyes twinkled as they spotted her cowering to a corner of the cage. He lumbered over towards her, kneeled with a pained face, and scooped her up into his arms. His long gray hair covered his eyes as she looked up at him. He carried her all the way to the small porch in front of the house with her in his arms. She could smell something familiar but odd emanating from his form: it was putrid and rotten.

As the man sat down on his steps, he caressed her back as she lay in his lap. It was a peculiarly gentle action from the man who normally had some sort of shiny pin in his hand or an orange cudgel ready to strike. However, she was finally at peace with the scientist who had tortured her since birth as they sat there in silence. Suddenly, the man hissed with a short chuckle escaping his lips.

He said, "What a sweet, little girl... You stayed with me long enough to complete my research. I've finally found a way to preserve one's lifespan by twenty more years, but to do this I had to use you as a sacrifice, my dear. For the longevity of mankind, your lifespan will terminate the moment you give birth. Whoever finds you will have to be sure to treat you kindly since your life is so precious now. Share all your moments of happiness as best as you can, little one. Once you are an adult, your only option is to be put to sleep or live in the wild for survival as it was intended by nature itself. Shame we won't be together for much longer, I would have enjoyed watching the light in your eyes flicker out and die as your child is born. It will prove how well my potion works. You stay here."

That was the last command she was given before the scientist put her down on the steps, stood to his feet, and went into the house with an eery chuckle following behind him. She could clearly see that he was going to die in the same house he produced his finest research. She was now the sole protector of the haunted place until adulthood. Now, she was finally free from the cage in a world she wouldn't know how to survive in. But, there was always a small light of hope. Her family was somewhere in the wild; she just had to track their scent somehow. Perhaps, when she masters basic hunting and guardianship of the now haunted mansion, she can leave and search for her family, but that was going to take some time. For now, she drifted off to sleep and planned her new journey as a hunter as the winter breeze wafted through her nose and across her face. Such a pleasant snowy wind...

* * *

"Toga!" a young child called. "Here boy!"

'Boss son.'

Toga was a blooming ten-month-old, tri-color rough collie puppy. He had been adopted by the Dengen family at two months of age and has been happy living on their farm and ranch. The boss of the ranch, Ookii Dengen, helped his son, Hal, train Toga seven months ago when the puppy was three months old. However, Toga has grown far more attached to his life on the farm than Hal's dream of going into the city and making a living as an entertainment mogul. He loved Hal as his master, but he also loved exercising his authority on the farm life.

Today was a special day, too. It was going to be his first time hunting rabbits after successfully learning to come when called in a week. Toga was eager to begin hunting; usually, collies are acquainted with sheepherding or athletic championships, but he was going to be a rare hunter type! To hear the boss or his son calling him always excited him because he couldn't wait to start his new job. Toga ran to the voice that called him, racing passed the chickens, and slowed down to enter the house. It was probably breakfast time since the rooster crowed some time ago.

"Hal, did ya feed the stud?" the boss asked.

"Toga's comin' now, pa," Hal answered, turning to his father.

'Thank god, I was getting hungry,' Toga said. To the humans, he was simply barking, growling, mewling, or whining. Of course, to other dogs, he was quite verbal.

"Mernin' friend," the boss greeted, kneeling before the elegant dog.

'Morning, boss,' Toga greeted, licking Ookii's face and wagging his tail.

"'Xcited 'bout huntin' today, boy?" Ookii asked, smiling happily when Toga barked. "Well, when we finish up breakfast, we're takin' ya rabbit chasin'. Next year, we's gettin' ducks."

'I'm liking where this is going,' Toga said, whining and lowering his upper body in a pouncing, playful motion. He barked some to say, 'The year after that is geese, right? Please say yes. What about a fox? Oh, how about a deer? Do you like moose?'

"Go on an' eat. You'll need to build your energy fer sure, friend," the boss said, watching Toga run to his bowl of food.

"Honey, have you thought about fixin' the dog?" Ookii's wife asked.

"Well, Tog's a nice stud an' seems mighty potent. I think he'll be our permanent breeder."

"Might wanna think 'bout gettin' 'im a bitch then, honey," the wife said, handing Ookii a steaming plate and pressing a kiss to his lips.

"They got plenty bitches 'round here who compete in the trials. We'll run a campaign for matin' 'im. He's practically the first collie to go huntin'. Owners'll stalk him to mount some dames," the boss said, peeking over his shoulder to look at his son. He furrowed his eyebrows before asking, "Where's Lotte?"

"Bathin'. She was up 'fore the rooster readin' 'bout sheepdogs in yesterday's paper. Been frettin' 'bout gettin' one so Toga won't be lonely an' so you's c'n git help wit' dem devils. When I came to cook, I saw her circlin' ads for farmers sellin' dames. 'at's why I mentioned gettin' 'im a bitch if ya ain't snippin' 'im."

Ookii hummed as he bit into a fork full of eggs then chewed thoughtfully. Toga wasn't lonely right now since he's young and still trying to find the right job on the estate, but he will be when he gets older and mating with other female dogs may not satisfy him completely. Dogs were social animals after all. Plus, since Toga seems to be out of place with sheepherding, a sheepdog might be a good addition to the family. Toga was a better cattleherder than anything else, and the other livestock listen to him rather well. His leadership skills were definitely advanced for his age. However, Toga's a dog; unlike humans, dogs don't go around searching for love. Ookii then decided to think about getting another male dog to herd the sheep on the hunting trip and continued to finish his breakfast.

* * *

The snowy plains brought back some amazing memories for Ookii as he took a deep breath of the forest air. It was such a calm atmosphere! Unlike his hyper collie puppy, he was simply happy to be out in the woods. Watching the scenery of snow-covered pines and Douglas firs while riding his Toga, on the other hand, was sniffing the ground for snow hares and had so much energy in him you could cut it with a knife and eat it like toast. Ookii was quite proud of the tri-colored stud. Toga managed to catch five rabbits in the past three hours, which is remarkably fast for a large dog and a non-Schnauzer or Greyhound, and pointed out two from a far-off distance before going to chase it. The collie was an extremely advanced hunter for his age and had heightened senses. This reminded Ookii of his wife's earlier suggestion. Maybe Toga would benefit a lot more if he had a companion, but the true challenge to that was whether Toga should have a bitch or another stud.

The farmer and ranch head heard growling from the young hunter and looked up to see a bear carrying a trout in its large jaws. Why on Earth was it carrying food around rather than eating it? Ookii then shushed Toga's defensive growling and watched the dog whine and shift uncomfortably. His horse felt uncomfortable around bears as well. The hunting group proceeded to watch the bear until they saw the strangest thing: a young puppy and bear cub were chasing each other until the puppy pulled the bear down by its ear! The puppy and cub were wrestling quite gently as the mother bear sat to eat her fish. Ookii was so amazed by the scene that he exhaled a shocked gasp: mother bear was like a babysitter for the playmates! It was...so cute!

Toga was whining and spinning about uncontrollably. He was about to bark a few times as he watched the other puppy playing with the bear cub. Apparently, he didn't care that a giant bear was sitting right there. He simply wanted to join in on the friendly romping. Ookii was a little too frightened to let Toga simply run over by a grizzly cub and pup, so he calmed the dog down with soft hushing. Together, they watched the puppy play with the cub until the mother bear made a noise to stop them. It was time for the cub to come home. The puppy barked a few times, kissed the mother and cub goodbye, and then watched as they left.

Toga huffed once then twice and barked loud enough to startle the birds. The puppy snapped its head around, also startled by the deep, loud bark, and then turned in the direction of the bears again. It looked to the side for a second and proceeded to leave. Toga was definitely unhappy about that and barked even more; also, he began to creep away from Ookii more and more.

"Maybe that dog's owner is nearby," Ookii said, gaining Toga's attention for a second. "Wanna play with the pup, Togs?"

'He fuckin' ignored me!' Toga whined, howling as he said this. 'Good thing he's not running away. I might be able to catch up with him.'

"Kya!" Ookii bellowed, making the horse run ahead of Toga. "Let's go get 'im, boy!"

Toga ran with a frightening speed as he ran in the direction of the puppy. Ookii actually had a hard time following the collie even on his horse. They followed the puppy's trail all the way to a valley where it was drinking the fresh, cold water. The mother bear was probably there previously catching fish. Toga barked some more as he climbed down a few stable rocks to get the puppy's attention and managed to succeed this time.

'Hey, you, down there! Who are you?'

The puppy looked up at him, tilted its head, and then retrieved a large, leaping trout flawlessly like a bear. It carried the fish to a basket with goodies already in it and then returned to its spot to look at Toga again. The puppy seemed fairly young and playful, but it wasn't interacting with Toga in a way that he wanted. Toga really wanted to play with the puppy or at least talk to it, but the puppy wouldn't bark back. Instead, the little puppy caught another trout and ran to the end of a trail to offer the trout to Toga. Then, it barked back.

'You can have a trout if you like. I'm done fishing.'

With that, Toga went nuts and the puppy went to its basket and strutted off. The collie cautiously trotted down the trail to get to the fish with Ookii following close behind. He sniffed it, put it in its mouth, and gave it to Ookii. The farmer took the trout, measured it up, and placed it in the bag with the rabbits. That puppy could get a decent sized fish!

"Well, Togs, we'll let ole' pup alone for now. Can't go in the stream. Too cold," the boss said.

'But... I really wanted to see that puppy,' Toga whined, looking in the direction of the puppy.

"I know, boy," the boss cooed. "I know you wanted to play with the puppy, but its mother is probably close by. We'd be in his territory if we kept going. I'd love to meet his trainer, though. He'd make a good friend fer ya."

'That just makes me want to see him more,' Toga complained, crying as he paced about impatiently.

Toga looked up to see the puppy running back to the stream with a container in its mouth and started huffing to bark. It went into the shallow parts of the stream, put the container on the shore, and pressed the container down. Ookii was beyond impressed by the puppy for knowing how to refill a water container and fish until he noticed blood on the puppy's face. Being a pet lover, he couldn't stand when a puppy was injured, but this puppy didn't seem hurt at all. Toga was barking and howling madly at the small puppy and was pacing back and forth.

'Dammit, stop teasing me!'

Puppy stayed concentrated on the canteen filling with water until he thought it was fine to pick it up. It did and placed it on its bottom to listen to Toga.

'I'm not teasing,' puppy said, barking only once to say this.

'You're teasing me now. Why can't you come over here?' Toga whined, barking a bit stronger than before.

'My food is on this side of the stream,' puppy said, growling then barking twice. 'Didn't I give you a fish already?'

'I don't want the fish,' Toga complained. 'I want to go on your side of the stream!'

'Why?' puppy asked, barking.

'I want to play. Why else?'

'Well, I can play after lunchtime,' puppy replied, growling a little.

'But I won't be here that long!' Toga whined, howling.

"Wow, that looks like a Husky. Very pretty for a puppy," the boss said. "Keep talkin' to it, Togs. I'm gonna find the bridge it crossed."

'The boss says he's coming to see you,' Toga said, barking.

'Aye, aye, aye! All this fishing is making me hungry. Oh, well, I can get him a fish, too,' puppy said, crouched low near the stream. Suddenly, a trout emerged from the water and it caught the fish quick. The puppy trotted over to a beaver's dam and ran across it to deliver the fish. 'Here ya go.'

'That's it!' Toga exclaimed.

Ookii spotted the puppy placing the fish down then saw Toga rush over to the same bridge. The collie spun around and whined before barking. He really wanted to cross the stream now and did. The boss ran over to his horse then rode the steed to a stone path. He had to get Toga before the dog ran away and got himself lost, so he rushed the steed to the path and crossed the stream too. The puppy simply laid down and watched as the rather fluffy dog came towards it. Ookii was finally able to get a closer look at the pup and noticed that it was much younger than Toga but would grow up to be rather large. It had some aggressive claws for a pup. He then took notice to the puppy's fur changing from black to a little more white, but Toga got in the way and was pouncing about to get the puppy to play with him.

'Alright, I'm here. Can we play now?' Toga asked.

'But I'm hungry!' the puppy howled.

Toga stopped playing altogether and tilted his head at the puppy. He huffed a bit, whined, and then proceeded to sniff the pup's fur and tried turning it over. When the puppy turned onto its back, Toga moved to the side so the boss could see what Toga was seeing. The collie barked twice then nibbled at the puppy's neck. The puppy yelped happily then nibbled Toga's muzzle in return. Ookii walked over to the puppies then gasped when the Husky-looking pup stayed still to watch Toga prepare his next nibble attack.

"You're a girl pup!" Ookii said, chuckling. "Oh, you've gotta have a trainer somewhere. Why on Earth would a girl pup be alone?"

'I was hunting,' puppy said, barking then turning over. 'Speaking of food, I'm hungry.'

Puppy got out of Toga's strong gasp and ran up the hill to retrieve her basket. Toga followed her halfway up until she came back with the basket in her mouth. It was full of food! Ookii looked into the basket and saw a few rabbits, two trouts, and one pheasant. This puppy must've been hunting since this morning to have caught so much to fill an entire basket!

'Yummy, yummy, food for tummy,' puppy sang, pulling out the pheasant. 'Bird.'

'Funny-lookin' bird ya got there,' Toga remarked, sniffing the bird. The puppy growled then nipped at Toga's nose, making him jump back a bit. 'What? I only sniffed it!'

'You got a fish from me. No more,' the puppy growled.

"No, no, Toga. She's right. That's her hard-earned grub. You've got turkey meat for lunch," the boss said, startling Toga a bit when he said no. He reached in his satchel and took out some lunch for everyone. He said, "Let's eat with pup. I don't think she'll mind."


	2. Chapter 2

'I'm a stuffed pupp~y, so stuffed pupp~y, a pupp~y who has been stu~ffed!' the little Husky pup sang, howling as she did so.

'Ya ate up about half the forest. I'd be stuffed too,' Toga remarked, grunting a bit.

The puppy stopped singing at this and simply barked in disapproval of Toga's remark. Of course, to Toga, she was simply making loud squeaks. After all, she was fairly small for a puppy, but she was fun to play with and was kind enough to share a rabbit and trout with him. He also shared some turkey meat with her. The collie actually enjoyed the Husky pup's company. Most dogs don't think like Toga does, but he was quite hopeful to stay with the pup for a little longer. At least maybe the boss would consider finding pup's owner. They could be hunting buddies together.

A fish leapt into the air for a short time. Pup barked some then ran to the stream to bark at the fish some more. She howled in a sing-song manner and wagged her bushy black and white tail. Toga watched the tail go as she sang and almost wanted to pull it, but then he'd be letting her pull his and he didn't really fathom people or children tugging on his tail. Why on Earth would he allow a puppy to pull it? Hearty laughter gained Toga's attention as he turned to the boss and wagged his own fluffy tail. He was watching the pup just as Toga was.

"Well, I didn't know pup liked singing," the boss said, chuckling. "You'd make a good hiking buddy."

'You'd make a super fisher too,' Toga complimented, barking. He then returned to chewing some leftover fish the puppy wound up catching for him.

'Thank you,' the puppy barked, walking over to the boss.

Toga watched as the Husky pup shyly sniffed the boss's hand and licked the fingers. She instantly tasted a yummy flavor on his fingers and continued licking. The boss laughed at this and rubbed the pup's soft head with his large calloused hand. He reminded the pup of the bears she made good friends with and wagged her tail in memory of her playtime with the cub. She then felt the boss scratch her chest and sighed at the lovely feeling. Her eyes were beginning to close until she heard a faint howling several miles away.

Turning her head to the distant sound, she barked to Toga and said, 'I think it's best if you leave now. The wolves are coming back from their hunt.'

'Why don't you come with us?' Toga asked, rising to his feet.

'...I can't leave my master just yet,' pup whined.

'Where do you and your master live? Maybe we can play again some time,' Toga said, making a hopeful barking noise.

'Can't say exactly. If you ever go out hunting again, we'll meet each other real soon. I go hunting every day. Sometimes I come here for rabbits, other times I go to the mountains for fish,' the puppy barked and mewled as she pounced about playfully.

'But I really like you,' Toga whined. 'I don't hunt every day.'

'Well, some humans understand us quite well if you give them obvious signs. Try telling your master that you want to hunt more. Otherwise, I can try to remember your scent and visit you. I visit the bears when I go hunting for fish, so maybe I'll visit you whenever I hunt for rabbits.'

'Uuugghh,' Toga complained, making an awkward noise. 'Does that mean I have to sniff your butt?'

'What's wrong with my butt? I'm clean,' pup barked.

'I hate sniffing butt,' Toga barked, huffing. 'Can't we just cuddle or something?'

'Well, how else am I gonna recognize your scent?'

'...I can always pee on a couple trees.'

'Ew, that's disgusting!' pup whined, hiding her face under her paws. 'I'd rather the butt than pee.'

'Oh fine!' Toga barked, lumbering towards the Husky. 'Keep still for a second.'

Toga went around the pup and sniffed her butt then shot his head back instantly. She didn't have an eery personality, but there was something about her scent that wasn't pleasant. She smelled of death and roses like she had been around a cemetary. Toga only visited the cemetary once because the mortician found the boss's cow eating in the pasteurs. Since then, he promised to never enter the land of the dead until now. The feeling of fear ran its snaky fingers down Toga's back and presented an icy chill that made him shiver. The pup, on the other hand, liked Toga's scent very much and wagged her tail and tried playing with him some more. This caught Toga's interest for a moment and made him pounce playfully.

'You smell nice!' the pup barked, sniffing Toga again. 'Like flowers...and wheat bread! Wait a minute...' the pup said, making a confused noise and tilting her head. 'Doggies can't poop flowers, can they?'

'Of course not, why would you think that?' Toga howled.

"Well, pup, you'd better head on home. Me and Toga have some rabbit chasin' ta do. We'll come out tomorrow and find yer owner. Ya'll could be huntin' friends, ya know. Would you like that, boy?" the boss asked, patting Toga's head.

'We can go hunting tomorrow?' Toga asked, wagging his tail and barking happily. 'Yes! Hey, pup, didja hear that?'

'Yep,' pup barked. 'Well, I'd better go. The wolves are coming. They don't like trespessers...trespeddlers...tress...trees...um, that thing you do when you're not welcome on territory.'

'Trespassing?' Toga suggested.

'Yeah, that thing,' the puppy yelped for a moment before biting a spot on her hindquarter. She turned to Toga once he came closer to inspect her actions then barked once to say, 'Hey, not to be rude, but do you have anything that stops itches? I've been near the wolves once before they threw me out and got itches from them. Evil beasts! If I could maybe borrow some stuff from you or your boss, that'd be very neighborly.'

'Your boss doesn't have soap?'

'Soap? What's that?'

'It gets rid of the itches.'

'Do you have any?'

'The boss has some at home but not on the horse.'

'You two best hurry,' the horse whinnied. 'If you're trying to make it home before the wolves kick you out again, little pup, you'd best get your soap another time. The boss wouldn't stand a chance against wolves like yourself my dear. They only scared you off because you're too young to fight them. Toga would have a difficult time by being older. Let's mosey along.'

'Oh, right! Sorry!' the puppy said, barking twice before rushing to gather her things. She ran back to Toga after gathering everything her things and kissed him quite happily. 'Thank you for not attacking me, Mr. Toga. You get one too, horsey!'

'Oh my...' the horse said, chuckling as he dipped his long face down and received the puppy's kisses. Toga remained silent and only watched the puppy as she barked at the boss to kiss his hand. The horse watched as Toga simply stood still and whined a little as the puppy ran to her basket. She took her things and without another sound she was gone. The horse teased, huffing a bit, 'Cute little one, isn't she?'

'Beautiful,' Toga said sadly.

"Alright, boys, we've got another hour before we head home. I think it's time the wife knows my decision for the ranch life. We'll be here first thing in the morning to find that pup's owner," the boss informed, mounting himself on the chestnut steed. "I might not be able to afford a sheepdog right now, but you can at least have a girl friend, eh, Toga?"

'Y...you...you're allowing us to be friends?' Toga yipped, tail wagging with some hope.

"Yessir, young man," the boss said, nodding and snapping his fingers so Toga would stand to be petted. "She's a might' lively gal. Purdy as a fox, too. Any dog that can tame a bear and learn from 'em is a powerful herder. We'll see if'n she c'n work the ranch. Let's ride, boy!"

* * *

Young Lotte, the boss's only daughter, was reading about sheepdog trials while the cattle chewed on their oatmeal and wheat. Flies zipped by with their annoying buzzing, but Lotte hardly paid them any mind as she read through the papers in her hands. She tossed a lock of her brown, curly hair behind her head and continued scanning the aging notebook in her small hands. There was an article about a female border collie becoming champion in an agility championship and a female rough collie coming in second place in the sheepdog trials, but Lotte wasn't particularly interested in champion dogs even though she would love to compete one day. She wanted to find the perfect girl dog for her father's ranch. She listed all the things that she wanted from a female sheepdog: a healthy breeder, great mother, gentle playmate, strong leader, a good guard dog, and relatively easy to train. It was a simple list for a little eight-year-old girl. All she really wanted was a new ranch hand for her father, a guard dog for her mother, and a wife for Toga. Everyone loves puppies, and, with Toga being a very handsome collie and gentle playmate, a beautiful, loving sheepdog would make a lovely batch of pups with Toga as her husband. However, sheepdogs aren't normally guard dogs; they were herding dogs much like Toga was.

"Lotte, darlin', whatcha doin' round these cows?" Clara, Lotte's mother, asked. "You'll smell up the house."

"Sorry, mama. I was readin' 'bout sheepdogs fer daddy," Lotte answered, turning to her mother.

"Whatchu want wit' a sheepdog?" Clara asked, wiping her hands on her apron. It was almost time to start nursing the ranch life. Giving medicine to the sheep was a tough job.

"To help daddy wit' da sheep. And so we can have puppies!" Lotte said, clapping her hands eagerly.

"Gal, we can't afford a litter o' no sheepdogs. They'll run us outta house 'n home!"

"Darn...well, at least Toga'll have some help. He's good with cattle drivin' but not sheep tamin'."

"You ain't got to worry 'bout sheep tamin' from Toga," a deep voice chuckled.

Lotte and Clara turned to see Ookii entering the barn with Toga barking at his side. He trodded over to Lotte, who hugged and kissed him, and was happy to see Clara petting him with a warm smile. Feeling sneaky, he turned over on his back and smiled as the girls rubbed his belly. A happy noise came from him when Lotte found his favorite spot and made his leg bounce a mile a minute.

"We found a pup today who took a likin' to Toga. Looked like a Husky. Pretty as a fox," Ookii said, placing his hat on a rack near the door.

"Just some stray pup? Where was its mother?" Clara asked, like her husband she too was an animal lover. Being a mother of two herself, she couldn't bare to see a baby away from its mother.

"We didn't see her mother, but we saw her with a mother bear," Ookii said, hanging his rifle on another rack. "The pup was might' brave, I tell ya. She was playin' wit' a bear cub and learned how to fish like a bear. Caught some trout fer us. All the game we caught's in the meat shack."

"You found a girl pup near a bear and it didn't take yer head off?" Clara questioned.

"Nah, the pup and bears were friendly-like. You know like Toga and Kaien. We followed the pup to the stream and ate lunch with her. She must've been huntin' fer hours. She had so much stuff. We's goin' huntin' tomorra to fin' 'er owner."

"How old was the pup?"

"Younger than Toga. I'd give her about 5 to 7 months old maybe," the boss guessed, removing his thin gloves with his teeth. Once both gloves were off, he continued on, saying, "When we found her, I thought about Toga and you too, Lotte."

"Me, pa?" Lotte said, turning to Ookii.

"If we find pup's owner tomorra, I'll ask him if we can have her as a sheepdog. We can't buy her or nothin', but she can at least be a nice friend. She was sure cute, too. I think you'd've liked her much."

"Are Huskies good guard dogs?" Lotte asked.

"Yeah, 'bout as good as a German shepherd. Why?"

"Yer baby's been lookin' fer a wife for Toga," Lotte answered, nodding to the collie.

'A wife?' Toga barked. 'Ain't I a little young for that?'

"Yes, she did," Clara said, not understanding dog language but responding to the barking hound regardless. "She said you's a misfit, ole sheepdog. Since you don't tame no sheep, we'll find a lady friend who can. That way you can herd the cattle, hunt for the boss, and make pleasant with the neighbors while she tends to the sheep."

"Or puppies!" Lotte suggests, giggling as she leans on Toga.

'Wait a minute, what?' Toga mewled, tilting his head. 'I'm not even one yet! I can't care for a baby. The puppy didn't even look old enough to bear my litter. When did we get this far in the conversation?'

"I don't know 'bout no puppies, Lotte, but she sure was a sweetie. I think Toga might have a crush on her, though," the boss teased, smirking at the dog when he barked at him. "I bet ya do."

'I do not have a crush on her! She's just really cute...for a puppy!'


End file.
